RICHARD T. BOOTH.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1142, 6 May 1885, Page 3

RICHARD T. BOOTH.

Regarding Mr Booth, who is now conducting a temperance mission in Dunedin, we take the following from the " Christian World":— "Mr Booth was born at Ithaca, in the State of New York, on October 27th, 1844. His parents were poor but pious. When about two years old he was attacked by so severe an illness that his body was prepared for burial. But, as Mr Booth now believes, through the efficacy of his mother's prayers, his flickering life was saved. Like the other members of his- father's large family of ten, Richard had to begin life's battle at an early age. At ten years of age he was placed at work in a cotton factory. Before he was 18 the great civil conflict between North and South America began. The lad gained the consent of his parents, and enrolled in the 111 th Regiment of New York State Volunteers. An elder brother, who was married, joined the citizen army with him, and they fought side by side. On September 15th, the whole force of 12,000 men were taken prisoners by the Southern Army, under the command of the renowned confederate general, 'Stonewall' Jackson. They were paroled and sent to Chicago, there to wait exchange, which occurred in about two months. Once more they proceeded to the scene of action, and were stationed near the historic site of Bull's Run. They afterwards joined the army of the Potomac on its march to Gettysburg. Mr Booth says :— ' I received a slight wound in the battle of the Wilderness on May sth, 1864, and was incapacitated from active service for several months. I returned, however, to my regiment, and was within sight of Appomatox Courthouse when, on April Bth, 1865, Lee surrendered to General Grant — thus closing the most dark and bloody chapter in my country's history, and resulting in the freedom from bondage of four millions of my colored fellow-men. On June 22nd, 1865, I received an honorable discharge from the ranks, and returned to the quieter pursuits of civil life at the town of Moravia, where my parents were then located. 1 On January Ist, 1867, Mr Booth married Mary J. Durling, of Seneca Falls, New York. She was a Christian, and had been reared in a Christian home. Shortly after marriage the young couple commenced business in Seneca Falls, and there Mr Booth first came under the alluring influence of the 'social glass.' Up to this time he had been, if not a pledged, at least a practical abstainer, and had no appetite for the drink. In two and a-half years the habit acquired such a master over him that it had to be satisfied at any cost, and his wife and children were brought to want. Of this period Mr Booth himself says :—: — 'At last I could no longer endure the scorpion-like stings of outraged conscience, and in my remorse I resolved to end my miserable existence. One day when hovering on the very brink of the fatal precipice, I met in the street a young gentleman of the town, who had many a time been my boon companion, and who was the possessor of great wealth. With a kind heart and an open hand he proffered me assistance, which enabled me to remove to Moravia. There, through the devoted care of my wife and mother, I regained health and strength. After my recovery I went to Ithaca, the home of my childhood, and started forth in life afresh, with high hopes and good prospects. Prosperity and friends returned. But in an evil hour I partook of a glass of beer. The appetite returned and reasserted its power, and ag&in I found myself on the downward way. At last there came the great crisis of my life. One morning about 4 o'clock, after a night's carousal, I found my way to my miserable home. As I approached I observed that the lamp was burning low, and there was no face watching for me as usual at the window. I thought that for once my patient wife, quite worn out, had retired to rest, having given up all hope of my return. As I ascended the steps I looked through the little window at the door, and there I saw her kneeling in the centre of the room. I entered the house, and the feeling was so dormant within me that I tried to pass her prostrate form on my way to the sleeping apartment. In an agony of despair she seized me and pulled me down on my knees by her side. She threw her arms about my neck, and this was her prayer, 'My God, have mercy on me, and save him!' Smitten with anguish out of the depths of my helplessness I repeated her petition, 'My God, have mercy on my wife, and save me J ' God mercifully heard and answered our united cry. From that moment to this not a single drop of the accursed, soul-destroy-ing liquor has passed my lips. I rose from my knees a saved and sobered man. Soon afterwaids I signed the temperance pledge, and set up the family altar in my now happy home ; a new and blessed era in my life's history was begun.' Within a few days of his conversion Mr Booth appeared on the platform as an advocate of the Blue Ribbon Temperance movement. His first temperance address was delivered in Ithaca, and from that time to the present he has been assiduously and most successfully engaged in fighting the foe that had so often conquered him in bygone days."